Family

This week’s discussion was on challenges in communication. Communication is hard. We can say something with good intentions and in our heads know exactly what we mean, but the people that we say it to can not see our thought process and so at times are not able to get understand 100% of what we mean by what we say. This can lead to them becoming frustrated or offended. Especially since a lot of the meaning from what we say does not come from the words we say as much as the tones we use and the nonverbal cues that we give off while we talk. The most important part of communication is listening to what people say. Really listening takes work, it does not just happen. To really be listening we have to not be focused on coming up with how we will respond to what is being said. To be an active listener we should at times during a conversation repeat back what has been said to make sure that we understand what they said in the way they meant. This can be really tricky. We try to listen to ...

This week’s discussion was on the family and the effect that stress can have on it. Though stress is most often thought of as a predominantly bad thing, stress is also important to help us become stronger and better than we currently are. Despite this growing from stress only happens when we use the correct coping skills. There are many things that can cause stress in our everyday lives: work, school, expenses, and many other stress-causing experiences. Stress can be big or small depending on the cause and the overall effect that it has on the family. It is important to know that not all forms of stress are equal to each other. The death of a child is said to be one of the most stressful experiences that people go through, while the stress of a child playing in the mud can be quickly overcome. Because of these stressors that occur it is important to be able to cope effectively with them for the health of a person's marriage and family. When stress comes into our lives we naturall...

This week’s discussion was on some topics that are not often discussed. In fact, to some degree, they are avoided. As a class, we discussed the importance of better understanding the differences between men and women during intercourse. We also discussed how the media has painted a picture about intercourse and that is what people expect to see. But as always a lot of the work that goes into making a marriage work is lost in the dramatization of the shows or the way things are explained in the moment. We also discussed fidelity and some of the things that people can do without realizing that they are being unfaithful to their spouse. Movies, shows, and general presumption about intermarriage relations have given false ideas about what people expect and don’t expect. One of the important pieces that is lost is the amount of work that goes into making sure that both you and your spouse are clear about your needs. Making sure that both of you feel comfortable and are willing to not outru...

The discussion this week was on the importance of the transitions that happen before and after marriage. There are several different transitions that happen: the transition from working closely with our parents to working more with our spouse, one that happens when the first child is born and then when additional children are born and another one when the kids leave. One of my class discussions was on the importance of the engaged couple being the ones working together to put their wedding together and that leaning on their family can make things harder for them in the long run. One way of leaning on their parents could be letting their parents pay for the majority of their wedding instead of doing it themselves. I know that the culture for weddings is to have a big grandiose party that is very expensive, but a wedding is a celebration and the amount of money put into it is not as important as the people who are being celebrated. Having a huge guest list and using all of the wedding ...